The Walk Home
by clementine823
Summary: The moment Naruto called her to pick up a drunken Sasuke from Ichiraku's, Sakura knew it was going to be a long night.
1. Chapter 1

Sakura twisted her fingers together and slowly, achingly, stretched her arms up to the ceiling. It had been a _long_ day at the hospital – two broken arms, a twisted ankle, and a fractured tailbone had occupied her morning, and just before she was set to leave an emergency case came in, which meant Sakura spent far more hours at work than she'd intended.

In many ways, Sakura was jealous of Sasuke and Naruto. Ever since Sasuke returned after the war, he and Naruto had been thick as thieves. Not that either of them would admit this of course, but they were constantly doing missions together. Sakura meanwhile, had been promoted at the hospital, something which she was proud of, but also meant she had lost all of her free time to spend with her former teammates. She and Naruto still managed to get lunch together once a week, but with Sasuke, it was more… complicated. Things, while civil, had been awkward between them ever since his return, and she wondered whether or not they would ever truly be friends.

 _But what if you don't want to be friends, what if you want to be something mo-_

Sakura shook her head, shutting down the thought. Sasuke had made it very clear he wanted nothing to do with her, and the best she could hope for was some kind of friendship.

She peeled off her clothes and stepped into her bathroom. Reaching into the bathtub, she turned the tap as hot as it would go, and waited a couple of minutes before lowering herself into the warm water, sighing gently.

Her brief moment of bliss was shattered when her cell phone rang. She slithered further into the soapy water, and pointedly ignored the phone. After all, it was probably Ino calling to complain about Sai's most recent antics. But unfortunately, her caller was persistent. After the twentieth ring, Sakura eased herself out of the tub, and grabbed her phone.

"Ino this better be important or I am hanging up-"

"Ssssakuraaa! You finally answered!" A voice, decidedly not Ino, screamed from her screen. Sakura winced, and glanced at caller ID.

"Naruto? Do you have any idea what time it is?" Sakura asked, already mentally preparing to knock him into oblivion the next time she saw him.

In response, Naruto just laughed wildly. "Who cares? Sasuke and I just saved Konoha, and we're celebrating!"

Sakura noted his slurred speech, and the background noise behind him. If she had to guess, he was at Ichiraku's, drunk off his ass.

"Do you need a ride home, Naruto?" She asked, tiredly, grabbing her towel as she reluctantly stepped out of the tub.

"Ssn't me you have to worry about!" Naruto giggled. "Hinata's coming to pick me up. Wasn't that sweet? She's so pretty, isn't she Sakura? Tonight, Imma tell 'er how pretty I think she is, how much I just want to kiss 'er every time she looks - "

"Naruto." Sakura growled, making a mental note to call Hinata and warn her that Naruto might be a little more amorous than usual tonight. "Get to the point."

"The point is, Ichiraku's is closing, but Sasuke says he won't leave until he sees you!"

Sakura blinked. "Sorry, what?"

"Sasuke says he isn't leaving until he sees you. He's pretty drunk."

Sakura frowned, confused by the latter half of Naruto's statement (she refused to think about the first part.) Sasuke, drunk? She'd never seen him so much as touch alcohol, so this was a concerning new development.

"Okay, I'll be there as soon as possible."

"You'd better!" Naruto sang. "Hinata's here, so soon Sasuke's going to be allllll alonnnnne…"

Sakura didn't like the sound of that. She didn't know what inspired the Uchiha to take up drinking, and she wanted to make sure he didn't accidentally chidori someone in a drunken rage.

She quickly toweled off her hair and slipped into the pajamas she had put atop her bed. She wrapped her long wool jacket around her body, and slipped out of her apartment into the chilly night air.

Ichiraku's was only a ten minute walk from her flat, and Sakura quickly found herself in the main parlor of the restaurant. The place was pretty empty, aside from a very annoyed looking cooking staff and a dark lump at the bar.

Looking closer, it appeared the lump was Sasuke. Sakura marched over, and none too gently tapped him on the shoulder.

"Sasuke-kun!" She hissed. When this yielded no response, she prodded harder. "Sasuke-kun! We have to leave, the staff can't clean up until you get out of here."

Slowly, the lump shifted, and a hand shot out to grab Sakura's wrist. Sakura startled, and stared in shock as Sasuke's dark eyes lifted up to meet hers. And then, just like that, he _smiled._

"Sakura." He said, eyes unfocused. "You came."

Sakura was stunned. Sasuke was known to smirk, but never to _smile_. She had certainly never seen the carefree grin that was currently spreading across his face.

"Uh, yeah." She replied awkwardly, slipping her arm out of his grip, as she gently helped him off the bar. "It's time to go Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke went willingly as she shepherded him out of the restaurant. Once outside, Sakura placed her hands on his shoulders and whirled him around to face her, taking her first good look at a drunk Uchiha Sasuke.

And _damn_ , how did he even make intoxicated look good?

His hair was messily tousled across his forehead, dark as the night sky behind. His normally alabaster skin was flushed, no doubt because of the alcohol. He still wore his ninja clothes, and Sakura realized that he and Naruto must've just come home from a mission. She noticed with concern a small gash running the length of his jaw, and without thinking she raised her hand to heal it.

Shaking her out of her revelry, Sasuke reached up and mimicked her movement, placing his cool palm against the side of her face.

"You came." He whispered, like it was a secret. Like a prayer.

Sakura stood frozen, slowly bringing her eyes to look at his, and she almost had to look away. His eyes were staring deeply into hers, perhaps the first time he had looked at her, really looked at her, since he returned. His thumb slowly traced from her cheekbone to the side of her lips.

As much as she wished to lean into his touch, Sakura knew this wasn't real. His eyes, which looked so open and loving, were too bright. It was the alcohol, she reminded herself sternly. _Sasuke would never act like this if he were sober_.

She slowly pulled away, trying not to notice the hurt look that that flashed across his face.

"We need to get you home, Sasuke-kun. Can you tell me the way to your house?" Sakura asked. She knew he stayed in the old Uchiha compound, but had never been there and didn't know the way.

Sasuke looked at her, frowned, then looked away. "Hn. No."

"What do you mean, no?" Sakura implored incredulously. "You don't know the way to your own house?"

Sasuke stubbornly shook his head, and then promptly emptied the contents of his stomach into the street.

Sakura sighed, gently patting his back as he coughed. She needed to get him in bed with a glass of water before she was forced to take him to the hospital, and because he clearly wasn't going to take her to his house, it appeared she had no other choice.

"Alright Sasuke, let's go. I'm taking you home." She looped his long arm around her shoulder, letting him lean on her as they stumbled down the street.


	2. Chapter 2

They made it almost halfway home before Sasuke stopped in his tracks.

"Sakura." He said, seriously. The deep, rich tone of his voice as he said caused involuntary shivers up Sakura's spine. She looked back at him in confusion, expecting him to utter something profound.

"What are you wearing?" In a movement too fast for Sakura to prevent, he quickly undid the tie holding Sakura's coat closed. He held it apart in front of him, brow furrowed as he took in her appearance.

Sakura, gaped at him. Now more than ever she wished she had thought to put on something more substantial than her pajamas before leaving. She had put on a gray tank top and pair of black shorts, far shorter than anything Sakura would ever wear in public. The night was cold, and Sasuke was probably confused by her bare legs shivering beneath her coat. In fact, Sasuke now seemed fairly mesmerized, eyes slowly traveling from her exposed collarbone down to her quivering thighs.

Recovering from her shock, Sakura wrenched the edges of her coat from his hands and quickly retied it. "Look, this is what I was going to wear to BED. You know, before I had to come and haul your drunk ass out of Ichiraku's. It is CLEARLY not appropriate for this weather, so let's stop standing in the middle of the street and get back to my house!"

Sasuke's eyebrows slowly edged toward his forehead, and Sakura blushed. She was fairly sure this was the first time she had ever yelled, really yelled, at him.

"Hn." Sasuke said, and took a step closer to Sakura. "You're sexy when you're angry."

Sakura stared at him like he'd grown a third head. This wasn't really Uchiha Sasuke, was it? "What are you you talking about- hey, Sasuke what are you - "

As if she weighed nothing, Sasuke easily scooped her into his arms, muffling her face against his chest. "We'll get home quicker this way."

Sakura tried to protest, but seconds later they were flying through the air, jumping from treetop to treetop. Sasuke, as it turns out, was a surprisingly agile drunk.

With a soft thud, Sasuke gently landed in front of Sakura's apartment. Sakura frowned, confused. She was fairly certain he'd never been to her place before, so how had he…

"I asked Naruto." Sasuke said, as if sensing her confusion. "I stop by sometimes. Just to make sure."

"Make sure of what?" Sakura looked up at him, more confused than ever.

"To make sure…" Sasuke's face reddened slightly, and he refused to meet her eyes. "That you're safe."

Sakura gaped. She was flooded with new and confusing information. Sasuke cared about her safety? And enough to come check on her at her house? She blinked, and realized that Sasuke was still holding her, his face inches from her own.

"Sasuke, I appreciate the chivalry and all, but you can put me down now."

As if waking up from a dream, Sasuke blinked and gently set her down to the ground.

"Now come on in. We've got to get you a glass of water and a good night's sleep if you don't want a Tsunade-level headache tomorrow."

Sasuke followed her to her door. As she fumbled for her keys, Sakura couldn't get over the ridiculousness of the situation. In fact, twelve year old Sakura would _kill_ to be in her position. Walking home together from a restaurant, being held in his arms, welcoming him into her apartment… but, she reminded herself sternly, in all of these fantasies, Sasuke wasn't three sheets to the wind.

Eventually, she pushed the door open, stepping into her small apartment. Sakura wrinkled her nose, wishing she'd bothered to clean up her place a little more. Dishes were piled in the sink, clothes haphazardly strewn around the floor…

Fortunately, Sasuke didn't seem to notice any of this. Instead, he had stopped to look at a small picture frame she had sitting on her kitchen table. Sasuke picked it up and frowned slightly, and Sakura realized it was a photo she had kept from her genin days. Naruto, crazy as ever, stood on one side, and Sasuke, stoic as ever, stood on the other, with Sakura smiling brightly between them. Sakura loved that photo; in some of the darkest days after Sasuke had first left them, that picture provided her with hope – a reminder of what had once been, and what could be again.

"You look so happy." Sasuke said quietly.

"I was." Sakura replied simply, attempting to carefully pry it out of his fingers, before Sasuke gripped her hand in his own.

"You don't look that happy anymore." Sasuke responded, then brought her hand to his chest, forcing her to look at him.

"I want to make you happy again."


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura looked at Sasuke. Part of her was ecstatic – the boy, _man_ rather, than she had dreamed about was whispering sweet promises in her ears. She could almost picture it the bright future he was weaving with his words and his eyes, a future without the pain she had suffered from the last five years. But the other part of her was _mad_.

"People _change_ , Sasuke." She responded coldly, watching as his brow furrowed in confusion. "I was a happy, lovesick, naïve little girl. But then something, _someone_ left me. Now I'm stronger, and I'm smarter, and I am realistic, and I am glad that I changed." She pulled her hand out of his. "And I have you to thank for that."

Sasuke dropped her hand, his slightly wounded look shocking her. She never knew that her own words could affect him this much, and now she felt guilty.

"Sasuke, I'm sorry - "

"No." Sasuke said, gruffly. "You're right to be angry. All I've ever done is hurt those around me, how could I expect things with you to be any different?" He gazed at her, sadness evident in his expression. "I'm going to leave now."

He quickly turned around, and made for the door, but seemed to radically overestimate his own diminishing motor function, and with a crash tumbled face flat onto her floor.

Sakura shrieked and rushed over. "Sasuke, are you okay? Sasuke!" He didn't respond, and Sakura quickly realized he'd passed out. She put in her face in her hands. _Sakura, how could you! He was drunk and vulnerable, was now really the time to let out all the pent up aggression you've been holding in for the past five years?_

Sakura thanked Tsunade for all of that strength training as she attempted to drag Sasuke into her bedroom, trying her best not to knock him into anything and injure him any more than he already was. She eventually got him onto the bed, and carefully propped him up on his side, just in case his stomach had anything else to expel tonight. She leaned in close and let out a sigh of relief when she heard that his breathing was steady and even. However, she noticed the cut running along his jawbone that Sasuke had, well, _distracted_ her before she could heal. Upon closer examination, the cut seemed to continue down his neck, and disappeared below the collar of his shirt. Sasuke had always been too proud to let her heal his wounds, and Sakura realized that this was a perfect opportunity to give him proper medical attention.

She started first with the scar on his cheek, the cut small enough that it required minimal chakra. In fact, Sakura noted with small satisfaction, it probably wouldn't even leave a scar. She then moved to the cut running the length of his neck. It looked like it a medic had partially healed it on the field, but they hadn't had time to finish the job. As she summoned chakra into her palms, her fingers lightly danced over the cords of his neck, and Sasuke seemed to subconsciously shiver at her touch.

"Sorry Sasuke." She whispered, and to summoned warmth to her fingers so they wouldn't come as as much of a shock. After she finished, she realized that she was going to need better access to the rest of his wound.

She was going to have to take off his shirt, and honestly, embarrassingly, the thought gave her butterflies. She looked at his sleeping face guiltily. He wouldn't mind, right? After all, she was just looking out for his health, and what if Sasuke bled to death because Sakura wasn't brave enough to take off his damn shirt?

Steeling her resolve, she placed her hands lightly on the bottom edge of his shirt. Stupid thing didn't have any buttons and was nearly skin tight, which meant she was going to have to somehow get it over his head. Slowly, achingly slowly, she started to inch the material up his stomach, shivering when her hand brushed against the hard planes of his abdomen.

 _Focus on the task at hand, Sakura_! It was becoming increasingly difficult not to get distracted as his pale skin was slowly exposed, hard muscle defined below, criss-crossed with scars from battles past.

Fortunately, she was almost done. She had carefully rolled his shirt up to his chest, and was preparing to position his arms so she could tug it off when a voice stopped her in her tracks.

"My my my, what do we have here, _Sa-ku-ra?_ "

She looked up and realized that Sasuke had woken up. He had propped himself up against the pillow behind him, and was watching her with a lazy half smile and eyes that reminded her of a cat's. His expression, combined with the way he said her name, low and with each syllable drawn out, made Sakura realize that she did not recognize the man lying in her bed.

Her hands had frozen, and with a smirk, took the edges of his shirt from her hands, and in one swift movement pulled it over his head. "If you wanted my shirt off so badly, you could've just asked."

Sakura seemed to have lost the ability to speak. Who was this boy? He had started off a sweet drunk, transformed into a sad drunk, and now was… _seductive_?


	4. Chapter 4

For a few seconds, Sakura just stared at the boy in front of her, not moving even when he reached up and lazily twirled a lock of her hair between his fingers.

"Is this color natural?" Sasuke asked, seeming genuinely curious. When Sakura failed to respond, Sasuke smirked.

"Well, I know a way to find out." Sasuke's eyes wandered down her body, landing on her lap.

This unexpectedly crude allusion snapped Sakura out of her brief daze. Using the palm of her hand she forced Sasuke's head back onto the pillow beneath him.

"That's enough out of you!" She replied, thoroughly unsettled by his sudden change in behavior.

"Tch - so cold, Sakura-chan. You really shouldn't treat me like this, after all, I'm injured aren't?" Sasuke reached up and grabbed her hand, guiding it back to the smooth muscles of his warm chest.

"Aren't you going to finish what you started?"

Sakura was blushing wildly, but she was also determined. If his wound was left unattended, it could become infected, and even this weird version of Sasuke couldn't deter her from completing her task.

Resignedly, Sakura summoned chakra back to her palms, carefully knitting together the torn muscles and skin of his cut. She was trying her best to focus on the task at hand, but Sasuke certainly wasn't helping.

"You feel so gooood, Sakura-chan. Just like that..." He moaned, arching his back as she moved down his chest.

"Pervert." Sakura muttered. "I thought for sure you were asexual."

"Exactly the opposite my dear - did you know I'm the biggest heartthrob in Konoha? How many girls would kill to be in your position right now?"

With a playboy smirk, Sasuke again reached up with his hand, trailing along her hair, her lips, her jaw. Her neck.

As if struck by lightening, Sakura jolted away, abruptly stopping her chakra flow as her hands flew to cover her neck. Her heart was beating, not out of love or lust, but pure fear. The last time Sasuke's hands had been on her neck was when he was trying to choke the life out her those years ago.

Sasuke, too, startled, smug expression quickly changing into one of concern, and then, realizing exactly what he had done, changed into a look of deep regret.

"I'm so sorry."

"No, it's fine." Sakura gasped, trying to stop her racing heart, trying to remind herself that the boy in front of her was good, was changed, was rehabilitated from the murderous child he once was.

"It's not fine." Sasuke replied softly, and as Sakura turned to look at him she was shocked to see wet eyes. "Look what I've done to you Sakura. Look at what I've done to a girl so _good_. You're so good, Sakura." He said, and his voice broke.

"Really Sasuke, it's okay, I was just being stupid - "

"Never." Sasuke replied, looking at her fiercely. " _You_ are not stupid Sakura. You are smart, and brave, and powerful, and kind." He turned away, his voice softening. "And you're beautiful."

Sakura felt her heart twinge.

" _I_ am the stupid one, Sakura. _I_ am the one who was too caught up in revenge to appreciate those around him, too focused on himself to realize the impact of his actions on those who cared about him. Stupid enough to lay hands on the only girl he's ever, he's ever lo-"

Sasuke became racked by sobs, and without a shred of her previous fear, Sakura wrapped her arms around his shivering body.

"Shhhhh, it's okay, shhhhh." Sakura breathed, caressing his hair, waiting as his tears gradually subsided, and his body stopped shaking.

As she held him, Sakura thought about all that had been changed tonight. Sasuke had shown sides of himself that she never knew he had. He had shown that he could be silly, that he remembered their genin days fondly, even that he was more sexually aware than she had ever thought possible.

But most importantly, he had shown regret. Regret over leaving team seven, regret over pursuing revenge at all costs, regret over hurting her. She was more than relieved to know that the boy she had known in her youth was not gone at all, only slightly hidden in the man before her.

As Sasuke's breathing evened and his body relaxed, Sakura realized that he had fallen asleep. She carefully finished healing his wound, and pulled the sheets up to cover his upper body. Smiling fondly, she turned to leave when a hand reached out to grip hers.

Sasuke's voice, low, husky. Desperate. "Please stay."

And so she did.


End file.
